Toothbrush



March 2,5-, 1924.. 1,488,2114

S.- MASON TOOTHBRUSH Filed Jan. 6, 1923 2 sheets-sheet i March 25 1924. 1,488,214

S. MASON TOOTHBRUSH Filed Jan. 6, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 secured to a handle 12, the handle 12 in Patented lidar. 25, 1924.

man

artnr rica.

saUL Mason, or scorn anni), iraniana.

TOOTHBRUSH.

application med January e, 1923. serial no. 610,958.

T 0 all whom t vmay concern:

Be it known that l, SAUL MASON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of South Bend, county of St. Joseph, and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toothbrushes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to novel improvements in tooth brushes, and has for its principal object the provision of an attachment thereto for cleaning between the teeth, the attachment being of such construction that the same will be economical in manufacture and highly etlicient in use. y

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the combinations @and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which, y

Fig. l, is a top plan View of a tooth brush embodying the invention;

Fig. 2, is a side elevational view of the same; l

Fig. 3, is a sectional View taken substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. a, is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view, of the invention, partly in section;

Fig. 5, is a sectional view taken substantially on line 5 5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6, is a iragmenta view of the end of the handle of the tooth brush embodied in the invention, showing a slightly moditied form of construction; and

Fig.' 7, is a sectional view taken substantially on line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings showing-the preferred form of construction 10 indicates the brush head, 11 a threaded stud shaft by means of which thehead 10 is detachablly t e present instance being hollow to form a. compartment 13 for the storage of a coil 14 of dental oss string. While the drawings illustrate the head 10 detachably secured to the handle 12 it is apparent that the handle and head can be manufactured in one piece. The advantage of manufacturing the tooth brush as illustrated is such that the vhead. can be detached in order to arrange the tooth brush parts in a. convenient holder (not shown), and by detaching the head, the handle with the attachment to be hereinafter set forth can be conveniently carried in the vest pocket within a suitable holder therefor.

The attachment embodied in the invention which makes it possible to clean the vertical edges of the teeth comprises a U-shaped member 15 having an integral hub 16' insertable in the compartment 13 as best illustrated in Fig. 4. The attachment can be held in the position illustrated in Fig. 4 by friction or by a small protuberance 17 bead like in shape and formed on the hub 16, for engagement with a depressed portion 18 formed in the adjacent wall of thel handle. In Fig. 7 I show another method for detachably securing the attachment to the` handle and in this instance the securing means comprises a screw 19, as illustrated. The arms 20 of the U-shaped member extend substantially at right angles with respect to the handle when the member is attached thereto, this arrangement being preferred for the reasons that when the device is operative the handle will not be in the way so as to interfere with cleaning the teeth.

Referring again to the attachment, means is provided for holding the portion of dental oss, to be used, taut bridging the space between the arms 20 of the U-shaped member, this means, as illustrated in Fig. d, comprises intersecting slots 21 within which the dental oss is friotionally held. This means, as described, of holding such portion of the dental floss in position is the preferred form of construction, however, if desired aligned slots as indicated at 22 can be formed in the extremities of .the arms 20 and will serve the purpose as Well. The dental, floss is paid out of the compartment 13 through a slot 23 and passes under a combination holder and cutter 24 carried by the handle 12. From the holder 24 the dental floss is arranged in the slots formed in lthe extremities of the arms 20 so as to bridge the space therebetween.

1t is a parent `from the construction that 1 provi e a ytooth cleaning device which will enable the user to conveniently clean the vertical crevices between the teeth located furthest within the mouth as well as those located in the front of the mouth.

After the portion of dental tioss bridginff the space between 'the arms 20 has 'been use the user by removing this portion from the slots ydiscards this portion by separating it from the unused floss by the cutter 2d. After removing this portion he draws a portion ot the dental floss 'from Within the compertinent of the handle and mounts this new portion in position for future use.

F rom the description and disclosure it will be seen that the structure of the device is simple and can be manufactured at a small cost whereby the device can be placed upon the market to sell at a reasonable retail price.

lVhile lt have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carr vin;T my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit ot' the invention. L therefore, do not Wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set "forth, but desire to avail myself o'f such variations and modications as come within the scope of the appended claim.

Having described my invention, what :ernennt claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A combination tooth brush and dental floss holder including a handle having a brushhead at one end and an opening at the other end leading to a compartment formed in the handle, a member having a hub ortion insertable at the open end clesing gli@ opening and having parallel spaced apart arms with intersecting grooves formed in their extremities, a combination holder and guide mounted on lthe handle? and a coil of dental floss arranged in the oompartnient and adapted to be paid ont therefrom through a slot formed in the handle adjacent the hub and having the paid out portion of the iioss passing under the holder and fixed in the intersecting` grooves.

lin testimony whereof l have signed my A name to this specification in the presence two subscribing Witnesses.

t SAUL MASN.

Witnesses Fasnia C. ArrLn'roN, CmnrNon'E. Haannnr. 

